The Other Double in F.M. Dostoevsky’s Story “The Double”

Abstract

This article analyses F.M. Dostoevsky’s story “The Double” in order to show that besides the obvious Golyadkin Jr., there is another double, which researchers usually don’t write about. The idea of the other double is considered from two points of view. The first one is that the other double is the double of Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz. The second one is that the double isn’t only a negative character, an enemy: the double could be a positive character, a possible friend to the main character, able to help him. In a first moment, the author analyses the three appearances of Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz during the plot, concentrating on the words that F.M. Dostoevsky uses when describing this character. The analysis shows how the appearance of Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz changes from one appearance to another and that is why Golyadkin Sr. stopped to perceive Krestyan Ivanovich as the same person he met at the beginning of the story. Thus, we can conclude that Krestyan Ivanovich has a double too. Secondly, the author analyses the relationship between Golyadkin Sr., Golyadkin Jr. and Krestyan Ivanovich, and the changes in the perception of Krestyan Ivanovich and Golyadkin Jr. by Golyadkin Sr. throughout the story.

Keywords

• double
• the other double
• f.m. dostoevsky’s story “the double”
• golyadkin
• golyadkin sr.
• golyadkin jr.
• krestyan ivanovich rutenspitz